Quality of life may lure businesses to area, group says

Wednesday

Feb 26, 2014 at 3:19 PM

Branding Identity Leadership Team is working to create brand for the Wilmington area

By Wayne FaulknerWayne.Faulkner@StarNewsOnline.com

The key to luring business to Wilmington may be its quality of life, according to members of a team of business, civic and other organizations set up to brand the area.The group, called the Branding Identity Leadership Team, met Wednesday to examine data, which showed not only what business wants when it decides to locate, but what Wilmingtonians say the area has to offer.According to research, businesses – especially small and medium-sized ones – look at an area for its workforce, regulatory environment, transportation and taxes, for instance. Quality of life was dead last on the list of 10, said Thomas Porter, chairman of the Department of Marketing, Cameron School of Business, at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He led Wednesday’s session at UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.But quality of life was at the top of Wilmington’s assets, according to area residents who participated in a UNCW study, he said.The team’s consensus, however, was that quality of life could be the door into a list of other assets that would attract businesses.The group was looking not for similarities with other cities, but differences.“The quality of life differentiates us and appeals to smaller businesses,” said Roger Johnson, assistant to the city manager for development, adding that it’s a way to get businesses to look at the area’s other assets.“We have to make an emotional appeal to get us in the door,” he said.The branding effort came out of an entrepreneurship conference in 2012. Since then, UNCW conducted its survey of 1,669 residents and Wilmington and New Hanover County have backed the effort. UNCW also reached out to the beaches and Brunswick and Pender counties, said Jenni Harris, assistant to the chancellor for community partnerships.“We can’t actually come up with a brand and not have the support of them,” she said.The team, chaired by Alfred White of Wells Fargo Bank, looked at what kinds of businesses should be targeted.The branding should be aimed at companies with knowledge workers, often small to medium-sized, Porter said. Add to that new kinds of manufacturing, said Ned Glascock, associate director of corporate communications and public affairs at PPD. Marketing to large manufacturing companies – which have different criteria when selecting business sites – is being handled by Wilmington Business Development, Porter said.Don’t target businesses “from where you are,” said Glascock, “but target from where you’re going.” The team will meet again in two weeks.